I recently co-designed and co-facilitated an MBA elective on the subject of ESG (Environmental and Social Governance) and Sustainable Investing at Business School Lausanne.

Teaching an elective to MBA students at BSL was a great opportunity. And to be honest, initially I was not at ease, as it was completely out of my comfort zone. But I ended up doing it – and I totally loved it!

The point is that this experience made me realize (again!) that as an entrepreneur (and freelance-on-a-mission as I like to define myself at the moment), stepping out of your comfort zone and nurture your positive mindset are essential if you want to change the world for good.

This is also true within companies: if you want to change the status quo, stepping up, daring to be visible and stepping out of your comfort zone are skills to be developed.

Why is intrapreneurship key for companies – and the world?

According to the Intrapreneurship Institute, there are 3 enduring benefits of intrapreneurship within organizations: new products and services, growing employee satisfaction and market share increase.

Letting employees experiment and “train” their intrapreneurial mindsets and skills, letting them “fail often and fast” (as we say in the start-up world) are key for agility, adapting to increasing VUCA environments and thus, long term business success.

During the MBA elective, we pushed students out of their comfort zones, “sparking” their entre- and intrapreneurial mindset through a hackathon: learning and applying new tools and frameworks in a short period of time and pitching a project “for good” with positive social or environmental impact to (fictional) potential investors or board of directors.

A call to action for business

Let your employees “train” their intrapreneurial mindset and skillset for a positive impact initiative they care about! It will not only motivate them to follow through if it’s a cause they truly care about, it will also enable them to train these skills so that they can use them in their daily jobs. A win-win for people, planet and profit!

First published on the blog of the Business School Lausanne on October 31st, 2018